As foreclosures hit unheard-of levels in recent years, a handful of Florida law firms that operated as foreclosure factories reaped millions in fees.

One Tampa-based giant, Florida Default Law Group, had more than 1,000 lawyers, non-lawyer paralegals and support staff processing legal papers as cheaply and efficiently as possible.

However, some of those same law firms later were at the center of a national scandal in 2010 involving allegations of backdated and “robo-signed” documents and overall sloppy work. The Florida Attorney General investigated Florida Default Law Group, but dropped the case without finding fault.